sem4u - 11:20 am on Feb 6, 2008 (gmt 0)

what actually changes now that AOL owns buy.at instead of [whoever owned buy.at before]?

Hopefully very little as I see buy.at as a well run affiliate network. AOL will put more money into the business for expansion.

Also, now we come to it, who did own buy.at before? The workers? Or someone else?

I think that buy.at was privately owned. The founders, workers and venture capitalists (VCs) could all own differing amounts of shares in the business.

Also, I'll accept that it is, but why is it an achievement for the people at a company like buy.at when such a company is bought by a company like AOL?

If they have shares in the company then they could be worth a substantial amount. One receptionist at a London search agency was given £100k when the company was bought out by the management.

What difference does it make who owns the company if the workers don't own it? And... if the workers did own it, haven't they now lost their company in exchange for some cash?

The cash amounts could be substantial, but work practices may change to fit in with AOL/Advertising.com