1. A method, comprising: extracting a tentative watermark from an embedded host content, the tentative watermark representing a candidate watermark with an associated probability of false watermark detection that exceeds a desired probability of false watermark detection; obtaining estimated distortion information indicative of a coarse value of a particular distortion, or combination of distortions, present in the embedded host content using the extracted tentative watermark; selecting one or more supplementary pre-distorted watermark templates that correspond to one or more distortion values in the vicinity of the coarse value; and re-evaluating the extracted tentative watermark using the selected one or more supplementary pre-distorted watermark templates.