Online classifieds firm Oodle raised $5.6 million in funding from its existing pool of investors: RedPoint Ventures, Greylock Partners, and JAFCO Ventures.

The financing will go toward improving its product, expanding internationally and expanding its partner network, which already includes Wal-Mart, MySpace and Facebook.

According to Geoff Yang, a partner at RedPoint, Oodle is further developing the concept of "social classifieds" — a way to "uniquely combine commerce, social interaction, and an entertainment experience."

In December 2008 Facebook permitted Oodle to take over its Marketplace project. Marketplace is an offering that enables Facebook users to list items for sale, much like they can on craigslist.org.

Apropos to the Facebook liaison, Oodle CEO Craig Donato said both users and advertisers would benefit from Oodle's capacity to serve as a "weirdo filter" — that is, to stalwartly protect both sides from having to deal with unsavory advertisers or content providers. Oodle also uses Marketplace to provide advertisers with insights on relevant Facebook demographics.

Oodle is currently only active in the US, Canada, the UK and India, but with a fresh infusion of cash, the company is setting sights on Latin America and Europe.

According to Oodle, traffic to its listings tripled in 2008, and the network expanded to 200 partners, with the new additions of Comcast and Cox Broadcasting.

Three months ago Oodle conducted a reorg in which 10 employees in marketing and account management were cut. It is currently hiring in engineering and other departments.