A watermarked signal is pre-filtered based on an analysis of signal characteristics that identify filter parameters that yield better correspondence between the filtered watermarked signal and the digital watermark. The watermark detection method computes signal characteristics of a host digitally watermarked signal, and analyzes the characteristics to determine an extent to which the signal characteristics correspond to characteristics of the digital watermark. The method adapts parameters of digital watermark prediction applied to the watermarked signal based on the extent to which the signal characteristics correspond to the characteristics of the digital watermark. In one embodiment, different filters or filter parameters are selected to match different signal characteristics of the watermarked signal with the characteristics of the digital watermark.